The Council conducted a public survey on climate change in May 2019. This survey was completed by 2724 people and the key findings were:
- Most people surveyed (77%) thought climate change was an extremely important issue.
- People under 24 years old were the most likely to think climate change was important (81%).
- People over the age of 50 were less likely to see climate change as important, although the level of concern was still high at 70%.
- Women were more likely than men to see climate change as an important issue (81% for women compared to 71% for men).
- Most people surveyed (84%) thought climate change would have a big impact on them.
- Most people (79%) agreed that human actions are causing accelerated climate change.
- When considering how to set greenhouse gas emission targets for Christchurch, most people (84%) thought our targets should be based on robust science and over half (57%) thought they should be achievable and realistic based on planned actions. 20% of those surveyed thought our targets should align with New Zealand Government targets and 5% thought Christchurch targets should reflect our minimum legal obligations.
- People thought everyone should be doing more to address climate change. Most people (77%) felt that New Zealand businesses were not doing enough to address climate change and over half felt that Central Government (68%) and Christchurch City Council (61%) were not doing enough.
- Nearly one-third of those surveyed (30%) thought their own household was not doing enough to address climate change.
- More than half of the people surveyed (65%) felt that their personal actions made a difference to reduce climate change.
- Actions most commonly taken by people to address climate change were:
- reducing waste and recycling (93%)
- saving energy at home (87%)
- eating less meat (75%)
- reducing car use (72%)
- choosing locally made or eco-friendly products (70%)
- conserving water at home (68%)
- 11% of people reported to be generating renewable energy at home and 16% said they use an electric or hybrid car or taxi in Christchurch.